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"What test?" Owen asked once more, starting to grow frustrated. What the hell was his father talking about?
"You passed the test to see if you were worthy. You evaded the death threats that came at you and your mate. You came here to fight the alpha, and you won. You did everything you needed to be a protector, Owen."
Owen didn't think he won. He didn't feel like a winner. If anything, Owen felt like a dumbass who didn't understand what was happening.
"I … What?"
"You passed. This was a test to see if you were ready to be the next alpha, and you passed."
"Wait a second!" Connor broke in after shifting, rage covering his face. "Father, this is unacceptable. This isn't how it goes. That isn't how the next alpha is picked."
Owen blinked, trying to process everything. So, everything that happened was to see if Owen was worthy? He didn't know whether he should feel blessed or even more pissed off over everything.
"He can't be," Connor growled at his father, throwing his arms out. "After everything he has done. How can he be? The pack won't accept him. Father, you have been grooming me. You have prepared me for this. You can't just hand it over to Owen!"
Dernet narrowed his eyes, stepping away from Owen. "No, Connor, I haven't. I have not been grooming you because I know what kind of an alpha you would make. You would be a greedy, selfish leader, and I'm not setting our pack in that direction after I'm gone. Your brother is the new alpha, and you need to accept that. If you can't accept him as the future leader of this pack, you need to leave."
Connor snapped his mouth shut and looked at Owen. Owen knew his brother wasn't stupid enough to say anything, and certainly not in front of their father. But he knew there was going to be tension. They were going to fight and probably never get along again. But Connor wasn't stupid enough to be vocal about his objection in front of their father.
Owen took a deep breath, trying to take everything in. He was going to be alpha. Or that's what his dad said. He felt his mind overfill with thoughts and emotions. He didn't know what to do.
Owen sat on the ground, rubbing his eyes. He looked at Connor, who now was looking at him with unfiltered rage. Owen wondered if, later, he would try to fight for the position. But he didn't need to worry about that right now. That was the future.
Owen looked at Mateo, who stayed quiet, just waiting for the situation to settle.
He looked at his father, who looked at him with a soft smile on his lips. Owen didn't know what to say, and he didn't know what to do. What was one to say in a situation like this?
What do you do when you think you are going to die, but you are handed the position of alpha instead?
Owen rubbed at his hair and looked up at his father. "I don't understand."
"That's okay." Dernet chuckled. "You will over time. We can sit down and discuss everything later."
"And what if I hadn't passed the test? What then, Father?"
Dernet tilted his head before he simply shrugged with a laugh. Owen watched as his father smiled at him. "Then I'd be dead, Owen. So, let's be happy you did. Congrats, you'll be a great alpha."
THIRTY-EIGHT
REIKA
Owen was nearly destroyed when Reika was finally able to throw herself into his arms. Normally, his magnificent wolf strength would scoop her up easily. But at that moment, when his face and body looked like fresh meat at the butcher’s stand, she nearly toppled him to the ground.
“Oh, honey!” Reika called out.
He was hunched over and breathing heavily, his ribs likely damaged from the battle. She lifted her weight from him and used whatever strength she had left to place his arms upon her shoulders and wrap her arms around his torso.
“Owen, are you okay?” she pleaded with him.
Owen was smiling with eyes that glistened like the sea at dawn. His breath hitched in his throat as he spoke like trying to breathe through a straw.
“I’m more okay than I will ever be again,” he said.
Reika lifted a hand to his face, touching his tender lips. She tried to encourage him to no longer speak, to give himself a break, while she turned to face Dernet and the rest of the Raff pack.
“Look at what you have done,” she said, feeling relieved yet still angry. “He nearly died trying to protect our baby and me! What is the point of all of this hatred?”
Dernet was dressed and hobbling around, holding onto Connor’s shoulder as she continued on.
